Urine bottles are commonly used by people unable to gain access to normal facilities, such as a bedridden patient in a hospital. The conventional urine bottle is constructed with a generally rectangular container body having a circular spout or inlet extending from the body at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body. This form of bottle is stable and well supported when placed on its side with the inlet directed upwardly. But if stood on end, as is often the case, the bottle is less stable and easily knocked over. If the bottle is overturned, without the patient or attendant having beforehand capped or plugged the inlet opening, accidental spillage may occur. Spillage presents a health problem, as well as requiring an unpleasant clean-up task.
Urine bottles have therefore been devised to avoid the possibility of accidental spillage by providing a one-way flow valve in the inlet. One type of bottle employs a flap valve biased to remain closed until caused to open by an incoming flow. The flap valve, however, has been attended by several disadvantages in this application. One is the problem of air building up within the container body and increasing the internal pressure to make it difficult for the valve to open. Another problem concerns the undesirable splash back of the liquid toward the user which may occur as fluid entering the bottle contacts the upper surface of the flap.
It is therefore desirable to provide a one-way valve which will preclude accidental spillage irrespective of the orientation of the bottle and will overcome the disadvantages associated with earlier designs.